Air-motor.



0. L. HOWE.

AIR MOTOR.

APPUCATION FILED MAY 17. 1915.

Patented A g. 6,1918.

3 SHEETS-SHEET l ,0. L. HOWE.

AIR MOTOR.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 17. 1915.

Patented Aug. 6, 1918..

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2 mm L 0.. wasmnnmn. n. c.

0. L. HOWE.

AIR MOTOR.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 17. I9I5- Patented Aug. 6, 1918.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

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OLAF L. HOWE, or MISSOULA, MONTANA.

AIR-MOTOR.

Specification of'Lett'ers Patent. Patented 'Aug; 6, 1918.

Application filed May 1'7, 1915. Serial No. 28,779.

T 0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, OLAF L. Hown, of Missoula, in the county of Missoula and State of Montana, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Air-Motors; andI do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such'as willena-ble others skilled inthe art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

The-object of this invention is to provide an extremely simple and highly ,eiiicient air motor having means whereby the traveling vanes .will be automatically; kept in. proper direction relatively-t0 the wind.

And a further object is to provide simple and highlyefiicient means for stopping the motor.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 1s a plan vlew. Fig. 2 is an elevation, Fig.

3 is a fragmentary view shfowingthemeans for stopping the motor. Fig; l is an' enlarged fragmentary view of-one of the vanes and its connections. to the traveling cables. Fig. 5 is an enlarged fragmentary view of a vane shutter. Figs. 6, .7 and 8 are details.

Referring to the drawings, -1- designatesa rectangular frame which is composed of suitable upper and lower bars connected totogether by the pivot rods 8 of the several shutters 9, one of which latterjis shown in Fig. 4: and a fragmentary portion of another in Fig. 5. Each vane'has a vertically disposed suppo'rtin'grod or shaft 10, arranged about midway of its length in the same vertical plane with the said upper and lower cables, as shown in Fig. 1, These shafts extend through the upper and lower bars 7 and the vanes are connected by clips '12 to the cables 5,such clips being bent to accommodate the sheaves and also formed withbear-' ings 13 to accommodate shafts 10, such Shafts being keyed by a bolt 14; to the clips 12., v

The vane frames are free to turn independently of the shaft when it is desired to change the position'of the vanes relatively to the supporting cables. 15 designates. a lata clip 15 to the lower cable the other end ;of said arm being secured to the pivot rod 8 of one of the shutters, which pivot rod is elongated for that purpose, as shown in Fig.

.erally. extending armsecured at one end by 4;. Each of the arms 15 is provided with two upturned flanges 15 between which are spring plates .16 bowed at their centers and forming spaces at their opposite ends to accommodate the pivot rod 8.

17 designatesa circular track upon which travel rollers 18 supportedby brackets 19 depending from frame .1. 20 is a vane or rudder which is pivotally mounted on one of the shafts 3 and which extends diagonally beyond the rectangular frame 1 and carries a roller. 21 which also travels on track 17. 'Thevane or rudder is secured to the frame by'means of a brace 22, as shown in Fig. 1, said brace extending diagonally from said frame, and having means permitting the rudder to be differently positioned relatively to the frame. By means of the rudder the series of shutter-carrying vanes are always kept in the wind, that is to say,

they are so presented to the air current that intraveling in one direction the shutters of all of the vanes on one side of theframe will be 'closed,'presenting an unbroken or solid surface to the wind, while in traveling in the opposite direction they will be opened, 1

oifering the minimum of resistance to the air. Thus, as shown in Fig. 1,'the shutters of the vanes on one side are practically all closed while those of' the other side are opened, the opening occurring as the vanes make the turn at one end of the frame and the closing as they make the turn at the opposits end. The power is transmitted from the two end shafts 3 to the central shaft 2 by means of two cables 23 and 24, as shown in Fig. '2. On shaft 2 below the track 17 is a pulley 25 by which power may be transmitted by a belt or cable. p

' In order to stop the operation of the machine, I employ an arm 26 carrying a roller 28 which maybe projected into the path of 'the vanes by pulling on a cable 29. Ordinarily the roller is held out of the way by a spring 30. As each of the vanes engages withroller 28 it is t rned on its p as shown in Fig. 3, and this causes the elongated pivot rod 8 to pass from the outer end of arm 15 to the inner end thereof, the springplates 16 holding the rod in the position to which it is moved and the vane out of the wind. It is only necessary that those vanes whose shutters are closed to the wind be turned in line with the wind so that the air current will have no effect thereon, the shutters on the vanes on the opposite flight be ing opened. For throwing the vanes back into operative position I have shown a rod 31 vertically disposed in the framework between the two flights of the cable, such rod being capable of being projected into the path of the inner sides of the vanes so that the latter will be turned. upon engagement therewith.

To prevent undue strain on the cables by the wind striking the closed shutters, I provide the vanes at their inner ends with rollers 83 which are mounted on the lower supporting bars 7, these rollers bearing against a centrally arranged horizontal rod 34 extending longitudinally of and sup ported by the frame, sufficient clearance be ing allowed at the ends to prevent interference with the turning of the vanes when desired.

The advantages of my invention will be readily appreciated by those skilled in the art. Although I have specially described it as an air motor, yet it will be understood that the same may be employed as a water motor. In practice, when the vane or rudder has thrown the frame into the wind the shutters of all the vanes on one side will be automatically closed by the wind pressure and as the several vanes successively travel onto the opposite side of the frame their shutters will be automatically opened. The travel of the vanes effects the turning of the two ends shafts from which power is transmitted to the centrally disposed shaft from which it may be taken by any suitable means.

' I claim as my invention:

1. An air motor comprising a frame, upper and lower cables mounted thereon, vane supporting shafts in the same vertical plane with said upper and lower cables, vanes carried by said shafts and having each a series of shutters designed to be automatically opened and closed, sheave wheels for said cables, shafts for said sheave wheels, and means for taking off the power from said shafts. I

2. A motor comprising a circularly arranged track, a frame designed to travel on said track, a series of vertically disposed shafts, vanes pivotally mounted on said shafts and having a portion extending on each side of said shaft, each of said vanes having movable shutters, upper and lower cables to which said vanes are connected, and a rudder connected to said frame and also traveling on said track.

3. An air motor comprising a frame pivotally mounted at its center, pairs of upper and lower horizontally spaced sheave wheels, endless cables engaging said wheels, a series of vanes carried by said cables, each vane extending in working position an equal distance on each side of said cables, and a rudder for regulating the position of said frame.

4-. An air motor comprising a frame pivotally mounted at its center, pairsof upper and lower horizontally spaced sheave wheels, endless cables engaging said wheels, a series of independently movable vanes carried by said cables, each vane extending in working position an equal distance on each side of said cables, and a rudder for regulating the position of said frame.

5. The combination with a frame having upper and lower sheave wheels and endless cables engaging said sheave wheels, of a series of vanes, each having a series of pivoted shutters, a shaft arranged midway its length, and means connecting said shafts to said cables in the same vertical plane with the latter.

6. An air motor comprising a frame, upper and lower cables mounted thereon, vertically disposed shafts secured to said cables and in the same vertical plane therewith, a series of vanes pivotally 'mounted on said shafts and having movable shutters designed to be automatically 'openedand closed.

7. The combination with a frame having upper and lower sheave wheels and endless cables engaging SELld. sheave wheels, of a series or vanes, each'having a series of pivoted shutters, one of said shutters having a projecting member, means connecting the vanes to said cables, and means secured to one of said cables with which said projecting member engages.

8. The combination with a'frame, of upper and lower endless belts, a series of vanes connected to said belts, and having each a series of pivoted shutters, an arm mounted on the frame and designed to be thrown in the path of the vanes, and means forholding the vanes in the position into which they are moved by engagement with such arm.

In testimony whereof, I have signed this specification in -the presence of two sub scribing witnesses.

'OLAF L. I-IOWE.

Witnesses: 7

:Fn NcIs S. MAGUIRE, ARTHUR C.. PnoBEY.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing" the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. G. 

